Sam Wineburg

Member Since: 2015

Sam Wineburg is the Margaret Jacks Professor of Education and, by courtesy, of History at Stanford University. Educated at Brown and Berkeley, he holds a PhD in Psychological Studies in Education from Stanford and an honorary doctorate from Sweden’s Umeå University. Wineburg studies how young people learn history in modern society and how digital society influences changing conceptions of citizenship. His scholarship sits at the crossroads of three fields: cognitive science, history, and education. His articles have appeared in outlets as diverse as Journal of American History, Cognitive Science, Smithsonian Magazine, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. His 2002 book, Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts was awarded the Frederic W. Ness Prize from the Association of American Colleges and Universities for the most important contribution to the “improvement of Liberal Education and understanding the Liberal Arts.” From 2007-2009 he co-directed the US Department of Education’s National Clearinghouse for History Education. In 2014, he was named the Obama-Nehru Distinguished Chair by the US-India Fulbright Commission. His latest book is title Stuck in the Past: Why Learn History When It’s Already on Your Phone (Chicago, 2018).